The present invention relates generally to a method of printing labels and deals more particularly with a method of printing a label pair with Information-Based Indicia Program (IBIP) indicia.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) initiated the Information-Based Indicia Program (IBIP) to support new methods of applying postage to mail. As part of the program, the USPS IBIP specification requires that the destination address information be embedded as part of and incorporated into machine readable form, such as a two-dimensional barcode indicia in addition to a user readable form. When a mail piece is printed on a single element such as an envelope or shipping label the printing subsystem consequently matches the destination address and the indicia elements. However, when the destination address resides on a separate label from the indicia destination address label, the user of the system must bear the burden of matching the corresponding labels. It is sometimes difficult to match these labels when more than one destination address and corresponding indicia pair is printed at once for example, on a sheet of labels having different addresses. While a user can clearly read the destination address, the IBIP is a machine-readable code and thus cannot be easily differentiated from other IBIP labels.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of printing a label pair with IBIP indicia.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of printing a label pair with IBIP indicia having a unique identifying mark for use in matching the destination address label and the corresponding IBIP indicia destination address label.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method of printing a label pair with IBIP indicia using a number of different label stocks.
The method of the present invention substantially obviates, if not entirely eliminates, the disadvantages and shortcomings of matching destination address labels and corresponding IBIP indicia labels printed on the label stock. The method of the present invention accomplishes this by providing a unique identifying mark for each label pair printed.
In its broader aspect, the invention provides a method for printing an indicia on a label in a system for printing one or more labels. The method includes the steps of reading a label configuration file wherein the label configuration file is indicative of one or more label stocks, selecting a label stock, reading a definition file associated with the selected label stock, selecting the number of labels to be printed, printing the number of labels in accordance with the definition file, such that a label pair made up of a destination address and a corresponding indicia is printed wherein the corresponding indicia further comprises a destination barcode and tagging the label pair with a unique identifying mark.
The method further includes the destination barcode being an encryption of the destination address.
A further aspect of the invention includes printing the destination address label first and printing the corresponding indicia label subsequently.
A yet further aspect of the invention includes tagging the label pair with a coding identifier in a predetermined inconspicuous area of the label pair.
These and other objects and features of the method of the present invention will become more apparent from an understanding of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.